


I know you (I walked with you once upon a dream).

by Singasongandneverstop



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Hellfire!Ward, Ward becomes Hellfire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-05 01:18:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11567301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Singasongandneverstop/pseuds/Singasongandneverstop
Summary: S1 AU. Things take a turn for the worse when Team Bus are sent to work on a case where there has been Terrigen crystals involved.





	1. You think you've had a bad day? Part One

Skye can’t for the life of her understand how they’re being called out in the middle of the night to a case where someone has found crystals in the woods. Yes, crystals. She can’t help but wonder if it’s some rare material that SHIELD has some weird fascination with, like adamantium. “I haven’t even had a coffee,” She groans, and May raises an eyebrow. That quickly shuts her up.

“Believe me,” May says as they drive off, “Last thing you’ll want is a coffee.” It takes them about 45 minutes to drive, and when they step out of the SUV, Skye understands what she meant. The area is cordoned off, and in between the groups of agents, she can see wheelbarrows with something that looks like human-shaped stone. “What the hell?!” Grant goes to talk to the officers who’s cordoned off the place, and gets an overview of what’s really happened. Skye follows FitzSimmons around as they examine the crystals carefully, after repeated warnings not to break them. 

Simmons is fascinated by the mineral. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever encountered before.” They take some crystals with them back to the Bus to examine them closer, but not before they’ve gone through the scene with the dwarves and given Grant and May a slightly more coherent picture of what went down. “So…” He says, once they’re back in the lab. “You’re telling me the crystal broke and emitted some kind of gas which turned everyone into stone?”

Simmons nods. “For now, that’s the lead we have. But Fitz and I need to examine the gas more thoroughly. I took a look at some of the remains, and it seems as if the gas caused some kind of cellular change within them. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life.” She frowns and goes to put on a hazmat suit, ordering Grant to do the same. They’ve built a secure testing room within the lab, and breaks a crystal, observing as the gas fills the small room.

“So, it doesn’t harm non-organic material.” Fitz muses, and Grant jumps, wondering when he got there. “Apparently not,” Simmons says. “However, we should do other tests to determine if this is harmful to animal life as well.” Fitz nods, and they chase Ward out of the lab. He goes upstairs to find Coulson and May, but runs into Skye. “You okay?” She nods. “Just a little shaken, that’s all. Thought I’d seen nearly everything by now.”

He can’t help but smile, albeit it barely shows. “Believe me, there’s a lot more out there. I think we’ve just found the tip of the iceberg.” He goes to change into workout gear, and heads downstairs to get in some rounds on the punching bag. As he does, he glances over to the lab now and then, and sees FitzSimmons conduct another test. The sooner they get those crystals off the Bus and to the Fridge, the better.

Then, May’s voice comes over the intercom, telling them to buckle up, as there’s some turbulence ahead. Grant puts his phone in his pocket, and FitzSimmons are in a hurry to get out of the hazmat suits. The plane starts shaking, and Grant shouts at them to get moving. Skye comes running, and straps in, and both Fitz and Simmons manage to get out in time. That’s when Grant sees the crystal that is about to fall out of the box and smash, and he takes off as fast as his legs can carry him towards the lab.

“Ward, no!” He hears their screams in the background as he closes the doors to the lab, and he hears something smash behind him. He turns, and his eyes widen as the gas fills the room. He feels as if his body is on fire, and looks down to see a cocoon grow on his body. The last thing he sees before the cocoon envelops him, are the panicked faces of FitzSimmons and Skye, then everything turns black.


	2. You think you've had a bad day? Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye decides to take the matter of certain things into her own hands.

Skye’s heart is in her mouth as she watches the cocoon-like substance envelop Ward, and she stifles a scream as he’s fully cocooned, his body frozen in an attempt to reach out to them. FitzSimmons are equally terrified, and once the plane stops shaking, Coulson and May comes running. “What the hell happened?!” Coulson demands to know. Fitz tries to explain as best as he can. “We were strapping into the seats because of the turbulence, when Ward saw a crystal that was about to fall and break, and he closed the doors before any of us were able to stop him.”

A cracking sound comes from the other side of the glass, and they all watch as the cocoon cracks into a billion small pieces and Ward falls to the floor, seemingly unconscious. They open the door, and Skye rushes to Ward’s side, trying to pick him up so she can help carry him, but hisses once her hand touches his arm. “He’s burning up!”

Even Coulson flinches when he puts a hand to Ward’s forehead. “We need to get him into the medical pod, now!” Fitz says. Even May says nothing, but the concern is evident in the crease of her eyebrows. They all grab him, and carry him to the medical pod, where Simmons runs multiple checks on him. Hours later, they’re all waiting upstairs, and Skye’s sick with worry.

When she hears footsteps, she stands up. FitzSimmons are looking somewhat solemn, and it feels as if her heart has fallen into the pit of her stomach. “Ward, is he-“ She stops, not daring to say more. “He’s fine for now.” Simmons says. But she looks too worried, Skye notices. “Fitz, Simmons? What’s happened?”

May and Coulson are waiting, along with Skye, and they seem as if they’re steeling themselves for what they’re about to tell them. “We’ve run tests on Ward… and I’m afraid it’s not good.” Simmons looks like she’s aged five years in the matter of hours. “His body temperature is spiking at a 50 degrees, and what effort we’ve made to cool him down so far, hasn’t worked. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. His heartrate is currently at a 250 beats per minute.”

May and Coulson look to each other, and then to FitzSimmons. “That’s not humanly possible.” Fitz shakes his head. “No, it shouldn’t be possible. But Ward is in peak physical condition, and his heartrate is normally much, much lower.” Skye notices that Simmons seems like she’s preparing herself for what the next news are going to be.

“We think the gas changed him.” Simmons says, and they all look at her. “Somehow, it bonded with his cells on a microscopic level, but I still can’t understand how this happened, when we so clearly saw how the gas killed those people at the site.” They nod weakly, but the tension in the room is palpable. What has happened to Ward, and how can they help him?  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Downstairs, in the medical pod, Grant is hooked up to all kinds of machines that monitor him. He’s had trouble breathing, Simmons explains, so that’s why he’s breathing through a tube at the moment. Skye’s heart breaks as she sees him lying there in the bed, all-too vulnerable. She watches as his chest rises and falls peacefully. Then, a sudden beep comes from the heart-monitor, and Grant starts coding.

*Flashback* 

“Christian, please! Leave Thomas alone, this wasn’t his fault!” a young Grant shouted as he was running towards the well, his heart in his mouth. He could hear Thomas’ pleas for help, coming from somewhere underground. He can’t stop thinking that if he’s not fast enough, Thomas is going to drown, and it’ll be all his fault. As he grabs the rope, he hears Christian’s footsteps come closer to him. “Not yet, Grant.”

His heart falls into the pit of his stomach as the corners of Christian’s mouth twitches into a cruel smile, and his hand comes to rest on the rope. “Not yet.” He feels as if he’s about to pass out as he watches Christian go, and when he’s safely in the distance, throws the rope down to Thomas for him to grab.

*End of flashback*

His eyes open wide when he feels a needle stick into his arm, and he panics when he realises there’s something down his throat. A tube, he realises. He sees FitzSimmons in the corner of his eye, both working on removing the tube. When it’s finally gone, Grant draws a deep, almost panicked breath. “Oh my god,” He hears Skye say, and then her arms are wrapped around his neck, hugging him close to her. “Skye..” He whispers, his own voice hoarse, as if he’s been screaming for hours. “You shouldn’t touch me…”  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Skye withdraws, and it feels as if everyone in the room can see how hurt she is. She doesn’t want to leave Grant’s side, she wants to make sure he’s okay. He’s /her/ S.O., damn it! “Ward, you’ve been hurt. We don’t know how bad, but you have to let us help you.” She says, mustering strength to fix his gaze with hers. He smiles weakly. “You’re so stubborn, you know that?”

The corners of her mouth quip upwards. “Yeah, I am.” They help Grant sit up, but Simmons won’t remove the nose tube just yet. “Goodness knows what’s happened to your body. You need all the rest and recuperation you can get.” Grant sighs, but knows that there is no arguing with Doctor Simmons over this matter. 

The looks Coulson and May are giving him aren’t helping either. “That was a very brave and a very stupid thing you did in there.” Coulson says. “We need to find out how this has affected you.” Grant nods, knowing there’s no way to escape this without them finding out. Skye doesn’t leave his side, and finally Simmons ushers them all out. She gives Grant a sedative, but it burns up so quickly, he’s not able to fall asleep. Finally, when Simmons leaves to get something to eat, he hears another pair of steps outside in the hall. There’s the sound of foot hitting metal, and the corners of his mouth turn upwards as he hears Skye cursing like an old sailor.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Skye smiles weakly as she sees him in the bed, and opens the door, stepping in with several bags of ice. “Figured you need to cool down.” She brings them out, and places them on his forehead, his chest, his arms, and then his legs. His temperature slowly begins lowering a little, but not much.

“I’m sorry this happened to you, Ward.” Her voice almost cracks a little, but there’s no tears, and Ward seems happy about that. “Hey.” She stops when his hand gently wraps around her wrist. It takes a few moments for her to get used to the heat, because he’s radiating at the same intensity as a furnace. “I couldn’t let anything happen to you or FitzSimmons, yeah? Then The Bus would be without very vital personnel.” She laughs at that.

“I don’t know about /myself/ being vital personnel, but…” Her voice trails off as Ward lays his free hand on her cheek for a moment. “Ward?” He smiles at her, albeit briefly. “I’m glad you’re here, you know that?” To her, he sounds almost… scared. “Ward, I thi-“ She can’t say more as he kisses her. 

It’s a very careful kiss, as if he’s afraid to hurt her by the slightest intensity. She can hear Ward swallow, and then he looks up at her again. “I… That was stupid of me.” She sighs. “Stop saying that.” Then she kisses him, and it’s as if nothing matter but them at that very moment.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


End file.
